Hoax prompts lockdown at downtown Issaquah schools

January 9, 2013

By Warren Kagarise

NEW — 12:30 p.m. Jan. 9, 2013

School administrators put Issaquah High and Tiger Mountain Community High schools into lockdown Wednesday, and Clark Elementary and Issaquah Middle schools into modified lockdown, after a student made a false report about a threat.

The hoax led police presence at Issaquah High as administrators and investigators attempted to determine the credibility of the information.

In a lockdown, students remain inside classrooms with the doors locked. The modified lockdown at Clark Elementary and Issaquah Middle meant students had to stay inside school buildings.

The lockdown at Issaquah High and Tiger Mountain Community High lasted for a few minutes.

“You likely heard that we were in lockdown this morning following a student report of suspicious activity in the upper parking lot,” Issaquah High Principal Paula Phelps said a message emailed to the school community at 11:25 a.m. “We have discovered that report to be completly false, and our school day has resumed normally.”

School officials said the incident is not connected the discovery of ammunition on the Issaquah High campus Monday.

The student reported the ammunition to administrators, and the school resource officer checked the area. The officer determined the ammunition likely fell from a backpack or pocket.

School administrators reviewed security camera footage and called a staff meeting to determine if any administrators or teachers noticed any strange student behavior. Then, police also swept the building with dogs but did not discover any evidence of a firearm.